Part of the mighty 2013 recruiting class, new Buckeyes Tracy Sprinkle, Eli Apple, JT Barrett, Cameron Burrows, Tyquan Lewis, Devin Hill, and William Houston have all enrolled early at Ohio State to prepare themselves for the upcoming season. Currently the Ohio State recruiting class is #3 on Rivals, #3 on Scout, and #4 on ESPN. Each of these gentlemen plays a rather large part of the high ranking of this recruiting class. While we won’t see them in the pads for a while, it’s exciting to see this new crop of talent around the campus.

We’ll start off with maybe the best Buckeye recruit of the class, according to Rivals at least, Eli Apple. Apple is a 6’0, 185 pound cornerback out of Voorhees, New Jersey. He is listed as the best player coming out of New Jersey in the 2013 class. Of course, you may recognize Eli Apple as Eli Woodard, but he changed his name as he graduated high school this past December. Woodard was the surname of his biological father whom he hadn’t seen since his infancy. Apple is the last name of the man, and the father, who helped to form him into the man and the football player he is today. Woodard has great size and speed, he runs a 4.48 forty-yard dash, and should be a great addition to the Buckeyes secondary that is already teeming with talent.

Already, there are whispers of the next “Braxton Miller” on Ohio State’s campus. Sure, Barrett has never put on a Buckeye uniform, but Barrett’s dual-threat status makes the comparisons easy. Barrett is a 6-1, 205 pound Texan out of Wichita Falls, specifically. Barrett was a part of the Elite 11 football training academy, lead by former NFL QB Trent Dilfer. Barrett tested very well coming into college, running a 4.79 forty and a 4.34 twenty-yard shuffle. While Barrett may redshirt next season, with both Braxton and Kenny Guiton returning to Ohio State, look for JT to be a big part of the future for this Ohio State team.

Tracy Sprinkle has the body of a player who has been in college for quite a few seasons. Coming out of Elyria, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Sprinkle has tested just about as well as one can in terms of bench and squat max. A 6’4, 245 December graduate of Elyria High School, Sprinkle had a 350 pound max bench along with a 490 pound squat max. Sprinkle will be a strong-side defensive end for the Buckeyes and will hopefully follow in the footsteps of his Buckeye elders, Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington.

Another Ohio-born Buckeye, Burrows looks to add to the Buckeyes already impressive cornerback class. A 6’0, 203 pound bruiser, Burrows committed to Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes nearly a year ago to date. With a 4.57 forty, 4.52 shuttle, and a 31 inch vertical, Burrows should be swatting balls all over the field for the Buckeyes. A December graduate of Trotwood-Madison high school, Burrows posted a 3.4 GPA while being rated the #1 football player in all of Ohio by Rivals.

A four star prospect out of Tarboro, North Carolina, Tyquan Lewis has the face of a football player. Lewis is a 6’3, 225 pound weak-side defensive end, who looks to play opposite Tracy Sprinkle on the Buckeyes defensive line. Lewis is more of a Julius Peppers, lean and mean defensive end who ran a 4.77 forty and a 4.41 shuttle. Maybe the two most impressive parts of Lewis’ resumè were his 37 inch vertical and his 3.5 GPA, both of which will help him immensely on the football field. Tyquan was rated by Rivals.com as the 11th best player at his position, as well as the 8th best player in the state of North Carolina.

Not necessarily a part of the 2013 recruiting class, preferred walk-on and Columbus-native Devin Hill has enrolled for the Spring semester at Ohio State. Hill was formerly a running back at Purdue University before he decided to come back home and compete for the Ohio State Buckeyes. A 5’10, 228 pound monster, Hill surely has the body to fill the fullback position for the Buckeyes. While at Purdue, Hill was a running-back, fullback hybrid that rarely saw the field. At Ohio State, Hill hopes to fill the role left by Zach Boren at the fullback position for the Buckeyes. Hill came out of Northland High School, also the alma mater of former Buckeye basketball great, Jared Sullinger.

Another preferred walk on, William Houston has enrolled for the spring semester at Ohio State. Houston is a Dublin, Ohio native and will be walking-on for the Buckeyes as a fullback, in addition to Hill. A Dublin Scioto high school graduate, Houston was willing to accept the role of a preferred walk-on, meaning that he would have to pay his way through Ohio State, therefore helping them to maintain scholarships. A Houston was a 3 star fullback prospect coming out of Scioto and at 6’0, 233 pounds, Houston will be looking to lead block for Carlos Hyde and Jordan Hall, amongst other Buckeye running backs. Especially for his size, Houston was quite a speedster, running a 4.62 forty-yard dash.

Each of these Buckeyes will be fighting to play in Ohio Stadium this fall, though it remains to be seen who will red-shirt, who will progress, and who will contribute right away. Hopefully, all of these talented Buckeyes will begin to contribute as soon as spring practice begins. Getting a head start, as these seven guys have, will surely get them ahead and give them a leg-up on many of the other recruits. They will have experienced the college-life, as well as the football grind, much before any of their Buckeye brethren. Hopefully this early start at Ohio State will give them experience that will help them both in their present, and their futures at Ohio State.

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